Grinnell is thought to be the second oldest town in Gove County, Kansas. Park was platted and named first and Grinnell was laid out just as much later as it took the Union Pacific to build from Park to Grinnell. The first bona fide settler in Gove County was George Von Dehson.

Grinnell at first was inhabited by those working on the railroad and by buffalo hunters. In 1872, Grinnell was described by Weston's Guide to the Kansas Pacific Railroad as being "364 miles from Kansas City, consisting of two large turf houses built for the purpose of drying buffalo meat." In July of 1873, Grinnell had a population of forty people including a railroad supervisor, two telegraphers and a few railroad laborers. Grinnell had a population of seventy five in 1880 and was described as follows, "it ships cattle and banks in Wakeeney." Grinnell was located too far west to attract many settlers.